Auckland, New Zealand, 1 June 2025 – MSD (tradename of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA (NYSE: MRK) is delighted to announce that from today, Pharmac will widen the funding of the immunotherapy cancer medicine KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) to include the treatment of eligible people with stage III melanoma. 1
Vanessa Gascoigne, Merck Sharp & Dohme (New Zealand) Limited (MSD) Director, expressed her excitement, stating; “Funded access to KEYTRUDA has been available in New Zealand for certain people with advanced melanoma since 2016. 2
“We are thrilled that Pharmac has widened its funding of KEYTRUDA from today, to include eligible people with stage III melanoma. 1
“This marks the first time KEYTRUDA will be funded by Pharmac for the treatment of a cancer before it has progressed to an advanced stage. 1,3
“Thanks to the Government’s increase in the medicines budget last year, and National’s Cancer Policy, additional people living with cancer will now receive funded access to KEYTRUDA.” 1, 4, 5
New Zealand has one of the highest melanoma rates in the world; therefore preventing, and detecting melanoma early, must be absolute priorities. 6
KEYTRUDA is an immunotherapy cancer medicine registered for 31 indications and is now publicly funded for 12 of these indications.7,1 MSD will continue to work with the funding agency Pharmac, to try and obtain funded access for more people with cancer.
Ms Gascoigne says, “Faster funded access to cancer treatment may benefit people across New Zealand and we believe patients should have access to KEYTRUDA where clinical evidence exists, ensuring fair and equitable access.”
KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) is available as a 100 mg/4 mL concentrate for solution for infusion.
The KEYTRUDA Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is available at www.medsafe.govt.nz.
KEYTRUDA is a Prescription Medicine and may be used in adults:
· After surgery to remove melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer or renal cell carcinoma to help prevent the cancer from coming back
· Before surgery to treat triple-negative breast cancer and then continued after surgery to help prevent the cancer from coming back
· To treat bladder cancer which has not spread to nearby tissues but is at high-risk of spreading and where bladder removal is not preferred
· To treat certain patients with the following types of advanced cancers:
o Melanoma
o Non-small cell lung cancer
o Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM)
o Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL)
o Urothelial carcinoma
o Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
o Renal cell carcinoma
o Gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma
o Oesophageal carcinoma
o Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.
o Cervical cancer
o Endometrial carcinoma
o Triple-negative breast cancer
o A kind of cancer that can occur in any part of the body and is shown by a laboratory test to be microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR)
o Colon or rectal cancer that is shown by a laboratory test to be MSI-H or dMMR
o Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC)
o Biliary tract carcinoma
KEYTRUDA may be used in children with MPM, cHL, MCC, MSI-H or dMMR cancer, or after surgery to remove melanoma. It is not known if KEYTRUDA is safe and effective in children with MSI-H or dMMR cancer of the brain or spinal cord (central nervous system cancers).
You should not be given KEYTRUDA if you are allergic to pembrolizumab or to any of the other ingredients listed at the end of the CMI.
KEYTRUDA can cause harm or death to unborn babies. Talk to your doctor if you are a woman who could become pregnant and use effective contraception while you are being treated with KEYTRUDA and for at least 4 months after the last dose of KEYTRUDA. Do not breastfeed while taking KEYTRUDA.
Serious immune-mediated side effects have occurred affecting the lungs, intestines, liver, kidneys, hormone glands, blood sugar levels, skin, other organs and in transplant recipients. Some of these side effects can sometimes become life-threatening and can lead to death. These side effects may happen anytime during treatment or even after your treatment has ended and you may experience more than one side effect at the same time. Serious infusion reactions have also occurred.
Very common side effects with KEYTRUDA alone include diarrhoea, nausea, itching, rash, joint pain, back pain, feeling tired, cough, patches of discoloured skin, stomach pain, decreased levels of sodium in blood and low levels of thyroid hormone.
When KEYTRUDA was given in combination with chemotherapy, hair loss, vomiting, decreased white-blood cell count, mouth sores, fever, decreased appetite, decreased number of red blood cells, decreased number of platelets in the blood and swelling of the lining of the digestive system (for example mouth, intestines) were also commonly reported.
When KEYTRUDA was given in combination with axitinib, high blood pressure, fatigue, low levels of thyroid hormone, decreased appetite, blisters or rash on palms of your hands and soles of your feet, increased liver enzyme levels, hoarseness, and constipation were also commonly reported.
When KEYTRUDA was given in combination with lenvatinib, high blood pressure, decreased appetite, low levels of thyroid hormone, vomiting, weight loss, headache, constipation, hoarseness, urinary tract infection, stomach-area (abdominal pain), blisters or rash on the palms of your hands and soles of your feet, protein in your urine, increased liver enzyme levels and feeling weak were also commonly reported.
The most common side effects when KEYTRUDA is given alone to children include fever, vomiting, headache, stomach pain, decreased number of red blood cells, cough, and constipation. (v56)
KEYTRUDA has risks and benefits. Talk to your doctor to see if KEYTRUDA is right for you. If symptoms continue or you have side effects, tell your doctor.
KEYTRUDA is funded to treat certain patients with the following types of advanced cancers: melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, MSI-H or dMMR colorectal cancer, triple-negative breast cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, urothelial carcinoma, and classical Hodgkin lymphoma. KEYTRUDA is also funded for certain patients with Stage IIIB-D melanoma. Patients must meet specific criteria for funding.
KEYTRUDA is not funded for the treatment of all other cancers <listed above>, which means you will need to pay for the full cost of the medicine and its administration. Ask your doctor about the cost of the medicine and any other medical fees that may apply.
Merck Sharp & Dohme (New Zealand) Limited. Level 3, 123 Carlton Gore Road, Newmarket, Auckland.
Copyright © 2025 Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, and its affiliates. All rights reserved.
About MSD
At MSD, known as Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA in the United States and Canada, we are unified around our purpose: We use the power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world. For more than 130 years, we have brought hope to humanity through the development of important medicines and vaccines. We aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world – and today, we are at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. We foster a diverse and inclusive global workforce and operate responsibly every day to enable a safe, sustainable and healthy future for all people and communities. For more information, visit www.msd.com
Copyright © 2025 Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, and its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Merck Sharp & Dohme (New Zealand) Limited. Level 3, 123 Carlton Gore Road, Newmarket, Auckland. NZ-NZ-KEY-00984 V1.0 NP22833 June 2025
References
1. Pharmac Community Schedule: Pembrolizumab Special Authority Form SA2491 June 2025. Available at https://schedule.pharmac.govt.nz/2025/06/01/SA2491.pdf Accessed May 2025
2. Pharmac. News and resources. Decision regarding funding of pembrolizumab (Keytruda), nivolumab (Opdivo), posaconazole (Noxafil) and raltegravir (Isentress) Available at:
3. Pharmac Community Schedule: Pembrolizumab Special Authority Form SA2386 May2025. Accessed May 2025
4. Pharmac. News and resources. Update on new medicines funding after the budget uplift. Available at:
https://www.pharmac.govt.nz/news-and-resources/news/update-on-new-medicines-funding-after-the-budget-uplift Accessed May 2025
5. National Party. Policies. Helping More Kiwis Fight Cancer. Available at:
https://assets.national.org.nz/Plan_Helping_More_Kiwis_Fight_Cancer.pdf Accessed May 2025
6. MelNet: Skin Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Strategy 2024 – 2028. Available athttps://strategy.melnet.org.nz/ Accessed May 2025
7.KEYTRUDA Data Sheet. Available at: https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/profs/Datasheet/k/Keytruda.pdf Accessed May 2025